That’s exactly how we feel about the latest of our new Designer Series for our HTML5 Content Sites, Stores, and Blogs. Melrose Avenue is loaded with a ton of firsts that collectively add up to one of prettiest designs we have created to date!

The biggest first for Melrose Avenue (and now for ALL HTML5 Content Sites, Stores, and Blogs) is that the rotating top image area on Marquee Plus Pages has been increased to a max of 650 pixels in height, giving you even more control and customization for your site.

Where Champs-Élysées was all about textures, Melrose Avenue is all about color. The designer element here is the menu navigation background. There are nine different designer color elements to choose from when you select Melrose Avenue as your template.

For the first time, the page title bar is designed in unison with the navigation bar. A drop shadow from the menu bar, plus a 3D ribbon atop the selected menu item pulls it all together into one glamorous element reminiscent of L.A.’s classic Deco architecture. The sub-menus slightly overlap the navigation bar to create a snazzy, layered look, and when a page is selected the 3D ribbon slides to the appropriate position.

Our Designer Social Media Icons are showcased on the right side of the navigation bar. You can display up to five icons! Also shown on the blog screen shot below is the subtlest of graphic elements: discreet ruled lines separate the blog posts.

Now for our final first! The Melrose Avenue Store has the Sign In and View Cart tabs along the top of the navigation bar instead of the top of the page. That’s not all that’s new about these tabs, for the first time these tabs have separate background color controls to mix or match with the overall color scheme!

Are you ready to use one of the most innovative templates of our Designer Series? Check out the sample sites to see if Melrose Avenue is the perfect place for you!

Special thanks to Jill Beninato of Sit.Stay.Smile for sharing her images for the sample of Melrose Avenue HTML5 Content Site, and to Mary Elizabeth Arts for sharing images used on the Core Business Solution and E-Commerce Solution samples.

View Samples

View the HTML5 Content Site Sample of Melrose Avenue
View the Core Business Solution Sample of Melrose Avenue
View the Store Site Sample of Melrose Avenue

The magnificent view is the inspiration behind our latest full screen HTML5 Portfolio Site design – Trunk Bay. The design features a compelling broad band at the bottom of the page that anchors the site. If a custom background is used it will shine through that band. Your logo also appears at the bottom of the design in the lower right corner, along with our new Designer Social Media Icons in the bottom left corner.

The navigation bar for Trunk Bay is an integral part of this design acting as a bridge between the full screen content area and the bottom of the page. It is here that our industry leading color-shifting technology is used for the selected menu item and sub-menu background color. The sub-menus hover above the navigation bar with a single bar for each menu item, giving the design a light, airy look.

With Trunk Bay’s gallery pages you can see the square edges of the design theme beautifully carried out. The images are highlighted in full screen across the top, and in the space below the navigation bar there are squares with numbers representing the images in the gallery. The image currently displayed in the gallery is highlighted with an extra stroke of color around the square so you can see which number image is being shown. You’ll also notice the color of that outline can use our color-shifting.

To give your site visitors even more ways to interact with your galleries, when you hover over any of the numbered squares in the navigation bar of the gallery pages, a large thumbnail of that image is displayed. A solid frame for the thumbnail can also appear in the color selected with the color-shifting feature.

Color-shifting is also shown off on the information pages of this design. The background color of the content area on information pages will have a tinted overlay of the selected color. As you can see the text background color is a significantly lighter value than the accent color.

So are the wide open views of Trunk Bay right for you? You can always check it out with a simple click in your control panel to preview your site in this new design!

Special first time thanks to Leslie and Ryan Moffat of Riverstone Photography from Paris, Ontario, CA for sharing their images for the sample of Trunk Bay HTML5 Portfolio Site design!

View Trunk Bay HTML5 Portfolio Site Sample

In Melbourne, you will notice the new Designer Social Media Icons in the top left of the design. The icons are specifically tailored to compliment the style of each of our HTML5 Portfolio Site designs. The choice is yours to use these Designer Social Media Icons by selecting them from the icon control panel, or you can also continue use the standard icon bank, or even upload your own icons using our custom option. It is a whole new way to personalize your site, that we think you are really going to enjoy.

There are color options for the Designer Social Media Icons too. You can match the color to your site or display them in grayscale. In addition, several of the designer social media icons allow for color shifting, talk about a way to make an impact!

As always it’s our pleasure to offer this feature at no charge. It is just another example of how we are continuously refining our products to keep them the best in the industry. Simply select the Designer Social Media Icons in your control panel today, and hit Publish to start enjoying them right away!

The logo is placed along the top of the template and can be positioned left, right, or center. We recommend using a PNG with a transparent background that will allow you to show off the color-shifting with this design.

The selected menu items reflect your color-shifting choices, with a slightly darker overlay to set them off from your background. When you click on a drop-down menu item, the sub-menu also displays with a slightly darker tint for a coordinated look.

One of the most unique aspects of Melbourne is the reflection at the bottom of the template. This elegant design detail has been worked in to give every image a unique and stunning look. In addition, with this design, we introduce designer social media icons to our HTML5 Portfolio Sites. Here they appear in the upper left corner, within a bar that color-shifts to complement the images.

Another beautiful design aspect is the line itself that separates your images from their reflection. This line also acts as the “Slider Bar” in your gallery pages. Clicking and dragging this control will allow you to navigate through the entire slideshow!

Gallery Pages

As we mentioned above, you will notice the “Slider Bar” across the bottom of your gallery pages. This bar is used to navigate through the images in the gallery with a single click and drag. You’ll notice that right above your images your thumbnail numbers sit on a thin bar that also color-shifts.

One of the great features of Melbourne is the large thumbnail images on the gallery pages. As you hover over any of the numbers in the gallery controls, a thumbnail will display. Simply click on the thumbnail and the image will appear below in the sliding gallery.

This great reproduced design is now available, so go check out our sample to see Melbourne in action, and start using it yourself if you’re a PhotoBiz customer!

We’ve got to give a HUGE thank you to Melissa Diep for allowing us to showcase her work in the new Melbourne HTML5 design reproduction.

So … what do you think? Please leave us a comment below!

What could be a more fitting name for the most richly appointed HTML5 Content Site we have ever produced? The next installment in our new “Designer Series” for HTML5 Content Site, Store, and Blog, Champs-Élysées is loaded with customization possibilities.

The entire content area of the Champs-Élysées design has a drop shadow surrounding it, with space for your logo at the top and the navigation menu just below it. The content area has a stylish embossed look, and the list items have drop shadows for a layered effect. 

Champs-Élysées is all about textures. The border, logo background, and navigation ‘ribbon’ are all one expertly crafted, color integrated unit. These organic Design Elements might best be described as themes, or styles. The sample site uses ‘Burgundy and Birch’ but you can choose from among eight different textures and colors in the Design Element menu.

As you can see, each choice makes a difference in how your site appears. Play around with these eight Design Elements to find the one that suits you the best:

The Champs-Élysées Blog Site is designed to be social. The flawless transition from Content Site to Blog is readily apparent. It shows off our new custom social media icons at the top of the page. These large, 34 x 34 pixel icons can be custom colored to match your site by using the Perimeter Highlight Text Color selection.

The Store Site demonstrates how well Champs-Élysées is constructed. Just below the page name and at the bottom of the content area are bold colored bars. You can select the bar color to either compliment or coordinate with the rollover highlight on the selected product.

The HTML5 Content Site Designer Series and Champs-Élysées in particular have more potential for personalization than ever. For example, you can upload your logo with a background and use Photoshop to continue the drop shadow theme of Champs-Élysées.

Special thanks to Lisa Mark for sharing her images for the sample of Champs-Élysées HTML5 Content Site, and to Pure Tots, organic baby clothing for sharing images used on the Core Business Solution and E-Commerce Solution sample sites. Is it time to make the switch to the new Designer Series for free?

View Samples

View the HTML5 Content Site Sample of Champs-Élysées

View the Core Business Solution Sample of Champs-Élysées

View the E-Commerce Solution Sample of Champs-Élysées

1. Collect photography session fees on the go, such as taking a deposit while meeting with a bride at a local coffee shop
2. Sell extra prints when you see a customer out and about that remembers they wanted to get a picture for Grandma
3. Sell products and services at tradeshows and events such as local business expos, craft shows, and more 
4. Sell educational resources at a workshop you are speaking at across the country
5. Accept payment for hairstyling and make up when traveling for weddings, proms, and more
6. Sell menu items from a food truck or food cart 
7. Sell concert t-shirts and memorabilia at a show
8. Receive payment for a personal training session 
9. Collect membership fees for an organization or association at an event 
10. Use the custom items feature to sell a brand new item not set up in Store!

Have more ideas about how you are or might use Point of Sale? Share them with us! We want to know how you are using our Point of Sale.

Want to learn more about the new Point of Sale? Give us a call or check out this webinar giving you a tour.

His diversity in technique and style is unique in the professional arena. He states that he only photographs beauty, leaving the dark side of life to other photographers. Jim is contributing editor to Photographic Magazine, and he is the author of 15 books on photography and has self-published seven ebooks.

His images, articles, and photo features have been published in scores of books and magazines including Time-Life books, publications of the National Geographic Society, the Economist, Omni Magazine, and Life Magazine.

Jim leads photo tours all over the world and is often a guest speaker to a wide variety of photographic organizations. He teaches all aspects of photography online as well.

The Interview

1. Tell us something about your business and how long you have been a professional photographer?

I have been a professional photographer for 43 years. I specialize mostly in wildlife, nature, travel photography, and digital effects. There are three aspects of my business. First, I am a stock photographer. I submit images to various stock photo agencies and I derive income from that. Second, I teach photography in various venues. For example, I teach online courses, I give photo seminars, and I lecture to clubs and organizations on various aspects of photography. Third, I lead photo tours and photo workshops all over the world.

2. What equipment do you use?

I am a Canon shooter. My arsenal of lenses includes: 500mm f/4 telephoto, 300mm f/2.8 telephoto, 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom telephoto, 50mm macro, 24- 105mm zoom, 14mm ultra-wide-angle lens, and 15mm fisheye. I use an Induro tripod along with a reallyrightstuff BH 40 LR ball head. My camera bodies are 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III.

3. Where are you located?

I am based out of Franklin, Tennessee.

4. What type of photography do you like to create?

My favorite types of images are wildlife, nature, spectacular architecture, primitive tribes, and digital effects. Most photographers don’t include in their portfolio such a diverse range of subjects, but I will shoot almost everything: fantasy, nudes, microscopy, fashion, and anything else that I find to be visually compelling.

5. Price range of events?

I charge a minimum of $2,000 for a speaking engagement, and for a photography workshop or tour it varies depending on how many days are involved and where I have to travel.

6. When did you notice you had a passion for photography?

I realized I had a passion for photography the first time I went into a darkroom. That was 1968. A friend of mine showed me how to develop black and white prints, and I was instantly hooked. I sold my stamp album of American mint stamps and bought my first camera – a Canon FT QL – and all I wanted to do was take pictures.

7. What is unique to what you do or what you offer?

Every photographer has their own vision, but I think what is unique about what I offer is the diversity of my interests. Whenever I speak to a large group, there are people who have a wide variety of interests in photography. I feel they can relate to my work because somewhere in the presentation are pictures that they like to take. In addition, because I have photographed in so may different situations and I’ve had to deal with so many photographic challenges, my knowledge base is extensive. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my experience and knowledge with anyone who wants to learn.

8. Most awkward moment during an event?

The most awkward moment in a photographic event that I’ve experienced is when I was setting up the digital projector and my laptop and about to speak to 200 people, and I didn’t have the right connecting cord between the laptop and the projector. I had just purchased a new laptop not realizing that Apple had changed its connecting cord. Without photographs, it’s very difficult to lecture about photography! Somebody in the audience had to go out to a local Apple Store and purchase the right cable.

9. What is the scariest thing that ever happened during a shoot?

The most frightened I’ve been during a photo shoot was in Kenya. Photography in the game parks is always done from a vehicle, but in this one particular location we were allowed out of the vehicle for breakfast. Right below us was a river, and there were several crocodiles close to us. I walked down to the river’s edge to photograph a monster crocodile – it had to be at least 5 feet wide – and even though I was using a 500mm telephoto, I knew that I was really positioned too close for comfort. I was probably 70 feet away or so, and I looked behind me to see an embankment that I could scramble up if necessary. These reptiles can move a lot faster than I can run, and I was extremely nervous. I took a couple of shots and got out of there fast.

10. Best advice that you’ve been given in your photography career?

The best advice I was ever given was to join a stock photo agency. This was in 1987, and it made a serious impact on my business. With a continuous royalty income, I was able to pursue the kind of photography that I really love to do and not worry about paying monthly bills.

11. Best advice that you could give someone else that is pursuing a photography career?

The best advice I can give to somebody pursuing a photography career is to follow your heart. Do what you love to do and learn how to market your work. Marketing is just as important as producing excellent photography. Most artists don’t like the business end of their art, but it’s necessary and you have to become good at it. In essence, you have to learn two things at once – the business side and the artistic side. Shoot what you love to shoot and this will keep your passion for photography alive and well for the rest of your life.

12. Best moment of your photography career?

The best moment of my photography career was when I held my first book in my hands. I’m most proud of the books I’ve written, so this was a very exciting moment for me.

13. How many sessions/events do you do each year?

I do about 15 events per year including photo tours.

14. Have you changed anything to adjust in the current economic times?

I’ve changed my business plan a lot due to the current economic situation. I’ve put a bigger emphasis on leading photo tours because they are still selling. There is a never ending supply of amateur photographers who want to take better pictures and are who willing to pay people like me to show them where the most awesome pictures can be found. This might be in the US or abroad.

15. Describe your shooting style.

It’s hard to describe my shooting style because it is so varied. Having said that, I like saturated color, strong graphic design, and exciting subjects. I would say these qualities characterize my style.

Connect with Jim

Website: www.jimzuckerman.com

Blog: www.jimzuckerman.com/?page/65495/jims-blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jim.zuckerman.12

The entire content area of the Fleet Street design has a drop shadow surrounding it, with space for your logo at the top and the navigation menu just below that. It is with the left and right border of the content area that the PhotoBiz magic begins on this design. As we ‘publish’ our 18th HTML5 Content Site, Store, and Blog design, we’re revolutionizing the capabilities of customization. With Fleet Street we’re introducing customizable design elements to our repertoire of personalized options, in this case the “Barber Pole” border.

This brand new design element brings with it a new area in the control panel labeled ‘Design Element’. These elements are expert selected in a variety of color schemes to compliment the design, and can be changed to personalize your site. For Fleet Street there are eight “Barber Poles” to choose from. On top of choosing from the expert selected design elements that’s right for you, certain parts of the design element can be controlled through the on color picker, specifically the Site Border Color, for an even more unique look, much in the same way as a transparent background allowing you to choose colors to “peek through.”

In addition, Fleet Street is a groundbreaking design in that the entire content area has a semi-transparent overlay, where the navigation bar and list items are then “cut out” to give them a special highlight. This is also illustrated particularly well on the Video pages with the video descriptions, so be sure to check out this unique feature on the sample site. On all other pages, regular text has the tinted overlay as its background.

We have used a slanted bar motif for title bars to build on the barber pole theme and unify the whole design. Fleet Street’s blog pages show how perfectly our Content Sites, Store, and Blog integrate. The tabs at the top of content area integrate with the barber pole’s slanted bar. This theme is also repeated for your individual posts and post titles.

Fleet Street is also available for the PhotoBiz Store, continuing the theme to give your customers a truly seamless shopping experience. As you can see, the Sign In/View Cart tab at the top of the page complements the design.

That’s not all! Fleet Street is also the first design to feature designer social media icons to match the style of the design. You will notice them in the top left of the design. You can choose to use these designer social media icons and change the color to match your site by changing the Perimeter Highlight Text Color using the color picker, or upload your own using our custom social media icon option.

There are many new customization options and features introduced with the Fleet Street HTML5 Content Site, Store, and Blog design. What do you think about these latest innovations?

Special thanks to Richard Esposito for sharing his images for the sample of Fleet Street HTML5 Content Site, and to Icing on the Top for sharing images used on the Content Site, Core Business Solution and E-Commerce Solution sample sites. Alright PhotoBizzers, it’s time to make the switch today to this new design for free!

View Samples

View the HTML5 Content Site Sample of Fleet Street

View the Core Business Solution Sample of Fleet Street

View the E-Commerce Solution Sample of Fleet Street

The title of this workshop is “Building Your Brand” and is perfect for many genres of portrait (or fashion) photographers. My expertise is with High School Senior Portrait photography, as well as commercial fashion and so my examples feature a high school senior and a model. However, the purpose of this workshop is to help anyone that is struggling with building their portfolio, or wants to get their ideal client in the door. You can be at any level of photography to participate, but it is meant for those who need help with any of the following topics:

• Setting up your own portfolio building photoshoots to market to future clients
• How to appeal to your target market and what to put in your portfolio and what to keep out
• Learn how to work with a stylist
• Producing your own styled photoshoot from beginning to end (including a “workbook” to walk you through each step)
• Ideas for how to “get your first client” or “create your first client”
• And more!

I talk a lot about the importance of keeping a current and well thought out portfolio, especially with an online professional website. I even mention PhotoBiz as one of my recommended “go-to” companies to help get you started!

I hope to see you at my online workshop this June! It’s only $50 to sign up (less than a tank of gas!) and offers over 60 pages of PDF reading material and over 80 minutes of videos to watch! Plus you’ll receive an exclusive massive discount on my POSING & MOORE guide. Check it out this June 11th, 2013!

To sign up when the announcement goes live, please enter your email address at the bottom of this page.